Suction cleaner



March 27, 1956 Filed Aug. 27, 1954 W. G. SECK SUCTION CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 27, 1956 w G SECK 2,739,666

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Aug. 27, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ilnited States Patent SUCTION CLEANER Werner G. Seek, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, acorporationr of Qhio.

Application August 27, 1954, Serial No. 452,666 8 Claims. ((11; 183-51):

This invention relates to suction' cleaners and! more particularly to a filter bagarrangement therefor;

The invention relates particularly to. that typeof cleaner which has a relatively fragile throw-away paper-filter bag housed within a protective cloth bag or envelope.

In the past it has been the practice to close the cloth envelope by means of a slidablefastener known under the trade name Zipper extending centrally: and vertically up the back of the envelope as in the patent to Barber 1,871,024. However, with such an arrangement and with the use of an inner throw-away filter-bag it is difficult to get a large enough opening at the lower end of the envelope for the removal and replacement of= the paper filter bag.

According to the present invention, the cloth bag or envelope is formed with a closed upper end. and. an open lower end and is slit from adjacent one-top. corner thereof diagonally across the back wall of the envelope to adjacent the opposite lower corner at the open end. The clamp to which the lower-open end of the envelope is attached is pivoted at the opposite lower corner of the envelope so that when both the slidable fastener and clamp are opened the entire lower end of the filter bag is exposed. The clamp also acts to clamp the lower end of the paper filter bag to the exhaust nozzle. With such an arrangement it is a simple matter to unclamp and remove the throw-away paper folded. bag from the cloth envelope and replace it with a clean filter bag.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken into connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a suction cleaner partly in section and showing the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the cleaner of Fig. 1 taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a vertical plan view of the rear of the cleaner of Fig. 1 showing how the cloth envelope for the filter bag is closed; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and showing the cloth envelope open ready for the removal and replacement of the paper filter bag.

Referring to the drawing, the cleaner generally indicated by the reference numeral 10, is of known construction, and includes a body 11 upon which a motor hood 12 is mounted.

The body 11 is mounted for ambulatory movement by front and rear wheels 13 and 14, respectively, and is adapted to be propelled about by a propelling handle 15.

The body 11 houses a fan (not shown) driven by a motor housed within the hood 12. At its forward end the body 11 is formed with a downwardly facing suction nozzle 16 communicating with the suction side of the fan and at its rear end is formed with an inwardly facing exhaust elbow 17.

An agitator 18 is rotatably mounted within the nozzle 16 and is driven by a belt extending about the agitator ice 2. and about a pulley extending downwardly from the fan as is well known in the art.

During cleaning operations the cleaner 10 is propelled about by the handle 15 and the motor is energized. The suction: created by the fan. will draw the rug or carpet upwardly against the nozzle 16 whereby the combined actionv of the air flow thru thecarpet and the rotating agitator 18 will dislodge the dust and dirt from the floor covering and the dirt laden air will flow thru the fan and be discharged from the exhaust elbow 17.

Swiveled to. and communicating with the exhaust elbow 17' isan exhaust nozzle 20 which opens upwardly when the. handle 15 is in its vertical: storage position as shown in Figs. 3. and 4. As shown at 26 in Fig. 2 the upper end of-the elbow 20 feet oval shape; Theclosed corner of the nozzle 20,. isv pivoted to. the body 11 bypin 21 threaded into. the. wall of the nozzle. 20: and suitably attached to the body/11 as shown in Fig. 2.

The bail portion of the handle 15 has two legs 22 and 23,. the leg 22 being rigid with thezflange. 24 of the. nozzle 2.0=and: the'leg 23- beingv mounted on the pin 21.

A throw-away paper filter bag 25 has its lower open end clamped: to the. oval end 26. of nozzle 20 in a manner which will. presently appear... A. cloth protecting bag or envelope 27 having a closed upper end and an open lower end is supported at its upper end; from the handle 15 by' means: of a. spring 28.

At its open lower end the bag or envelope 27 is secured The supporting frame also includes the, members 31- and:

32. The inner side of the lower end of the envelope 27 is suitably sewed to the member 31 and the outer side of the. envelope 27- is. sewed to the. complemental. member 32, pivoted to. the member 31 at 33. The members 31 and 32 are-curved to. fit about, the. oval upper end 26 of nozzle 20 as shown in Fig. 2. The frame in eitect is secured to the exhaust nozzle 20 since the latter is rigid with the handle 15.

The latch lever 34 is pivoted to the free end of the member 32 and pivotally carries a second latch lever 35 having a hooked end 36 which co-acts with the hooked end 37 of bracket 38 suitably secured to the leg 23 of handle 15. A spring 39 biases the member 32 to open position as shown in Fig. 4.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the envelope 27 is slit diagonally across the back wall from adjacent the upper lefthand corner to adjacent the lower right-hand corner. A slidable fastener 40 may be operated by an operating tab 41 to open and close the slit.

The weight of the handle 15 and the filter is counterbalanced by a torsion spring 42.

Operation When the paper filter bag 25 becomes clogged with dirt, it is necessary that it be removed and replaced with a clean one. It is merely necessary to place the handle 15 in its vertical storage positionas shown in Figs. 3 and 4, grasp the tab 41 and pull it upwardly to open the back wall of the envelope 27, pull outwardly on latch lever 34 to release the hooked end 36 from the hook 37 and the spring 39 will move the lower end of the envelope 27 to the position shown in Fig. 4 whereby the entire lower end of paper filter 25 will be exposed.

The filter 25 is then grasped and pulled upwardly from the oval end 26 of nozzle 20 and disposed of. The open end of a clean filter is then slid over the oval end 26 of nozzle 20, the lower end of envelope 25 and member 32 moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 and latched in position, it being noted that the end of the filter 25 is clamped about the oval end 26 by that action. The tab 41 is moved downwardly to completely close the envelope 27.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the arrangement of the present invention provides a simple way of clamping and unclamping the filter bag and for exposing the entire lower end thereof whereby it is a simple matter to replace a dirty bag with a clean one.

While I have shown and described but a single embodi ment of my invention it is to be understood that that embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but wish to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner having an exhaust nozzle, a paper filter bag having an open end fitted over the open end of said exhaust nozzle, a frame secured to said exhaust nozzle about the lower end of said paper filter bag, said frame including a member curved to fit said exhaust nozzle pivoted adjacent one side of said exhaust nozzle so as to move away therefrom, a protective envelope having an upper closed end and a lower open end and being formed in the general shape of an elongate rectangle, said lower open end being secured to said frame, the back lower end of said envelope being secured to said curved member so as to move therewith and being slit from adjacent one corner of its closed end above the pivot point of said curved member to adjacent the opposite corner of the open end of said envelope opposite the pivot point of said curved member.

2. In a suction cleaner according to claim 1 in which said curved member acts to clamp the open end of said filter bag about said exhaust nozzle.

3. In a suction cleaner according to claim 1 including clamping means for securing the free end of said curved members to said exhaust nozzle adjacent the lower end of said slit.

4. In a suction cleaner according to claim 3 in which said curved member is biased to open position when said clamping means is released so as to automatically expose the open end of said paper filter bag.

5. In a suction cleaner having a propelling handle which is movable to a vertical storage position, an exhaust nozzle rigid with said handle and extending upwardly when said handle is extended in vertical storage position, a paper filter bag having a lower open end fitted about the end of said exhaust nozzle, an elongate generally rectangular protective envelope surrounding said paper filter bag, said envelope having a closed upper end secured to said handle and an open lowerend surrounding said exhaust nozzle, a member pivoted on a vertical axis to one side of said exhaust nozzle, the back lower end of said envelope being secured to said member so as to move therewith, said envelope being slit from adjacent one upper corner above the pivot point of said member to adjacent its opposite lower corner opposite the pivot point of said member whereby the entire lower end of said filter bag is exposed when said member is pivoted outwardly away from said exhaust nozzle.

6. In a suction cleaner according to claim 5 including clamping means for securing the free end of said member to said exhaust nozzle at the side opposite its pivot point, said member being biased to move to open position whereby the lower end of said paper filter bag will be automatically exposed when said clamping means is released.

7. In-a suction cleaner according to claim 6 in which said member is curved to conform to the shape of said exhaust nozzle and acts to clamp the lower end of said filter bag to said exhaust nozzle.

8. In a suction cleaner according to claim 5 in which said member is curved to conform to the shape of said exhaust nozzle and acts to clamp the lower open end of said filter bag to said exhaust nozzle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,689,969 Seek Sept. 28, 1954 

